Mystery of Rep. Martha McSally's unidentified donors may be solved

During the 2014 election cycle, Rep. Martha McSally’s reports had full identifying information for just 71 percent of individual donations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.(Photo: Jack Gruber/USA TODAY)

WASHINGTON — There may be a simple explanation for why donors listed on U.S. Rep. Martha McSally’s campaign-finance reports are missing identifying information – a problem that is the basis of a complaint to the Federal Election Commission.

A review of a sampling of those donors suggests that, for many of them, their employer and occupation should be listed as one word: retired.

The lack of identifying information for McSally donors is one of several concerns the FEC has raised with the Tucson Republican’s campaign committee.

Local Democrats filed a complaint with the FEC in August, claiming the missing data was a violation of campaign-finance law.

During the 2014 election cycle, McSally’s reports had full identifying information for just 71 percent of individual donations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The center, which tracks disclosure data, says McSally ranked ninth-worst among candidates in the 2013-14 cycle who raised at least $50,000 in individual contributions of more than $200. Campaign committees are required to identify people who give more than $200 in an election cycle.

In the first two quarters of this year, slightly more than one-third of the more than 1,200 individual contributions listed on her campaign-finance reports have complete identifying information, with the person’s occupation and employer, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

To some degree, McSally’s campaign has been a victim of its own success, with 38,000 individual contributions to process in the past cycle. It recently has hired experts to try to straighten out its filings.

"Martha has been extremely fortunate that her message of growing economic opportunity, strong national security, and focus on getting things done has resonated not just here in southern Arizona but all across the nation," said Weston McKee, McSally's campaign manager. "That message and our robust mail efforts, which reach people across the country, have led to us achieving a higher percentage of donors who, for one reason or another, have chosen not to provide employer and occupation information."

In the first half of 2015, McSally raised about $1.7 million, far more than any House incumbent in Arizona. Included in that total was $1.15 million from individuals. Of that, $693,000 was given in amounts that require listing the donor, the donor’s complete address, occupation and employer.

Many of McSally’s donors have the words “information requested” on the lines for occupation and employer.

In checking a sample of 150 of those donors in the second quarter of this year against a database that includes birth dates, The Republic's Washington bureau discovered the average age of the donors was 77.

More than three-fourths were at least 70, 13 were in their 90s and two were centenarians. More than 60 percent are from outside Arizona.

The caregiver who answered the phone at the home of one 95-year-old donor said the woman’s access to her funds had been cut off because of concerns over her excessive giving to a variety of causes. The woman, whom the caregiver asked not be identified, said she had received a letter from the McSally campaign and liked what she read.

Robert Buchanan, 93, of Pueblo, Colo., and Arthur Geringer, 91, of Oak Park, Calif., both said they were motivated to give to McSally because of her military background.

The representative was the first woman to command a fighter squadron in the Air Force.

“She was a good military lady. That’s it,” Buchanan said. FEC records show Buchanan has given more than $16,000 since 2006 to a variety of Republican candidates, including the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain.

“Yeah, I give more than I want to. ... I’m 93 years old so I don’t have much longer to give,” Buchanan said.

McKee said age was "no factor in our fundraising efforts."

"Our efforts are based on people who are politically active, have given in the past or are a new political donor inspired by Martha’s unique story, service and message," McKee said.

Meanwhile, a consultant for Democrat Matt Heinz, a former state representative who is running against McSally, had two interns go through the more than 850 donations in the first six months of the year that lacked identifying information.

Bill Scheel said it took the interns two weeks to figure out identifying information for about 90 percent of the contributions.

That method would not meet FEC requirements, however.

If a committee is unable to provide missing identifying information, it must demonstrate that “best efforts” have been made to obtain the information by providing the FEC with a detailed description of the procedures for requesting the information.

Committees are required to make a followup request to the donor for the information, according to the FEC.

McKee said McSally's campaign follows these steps. "We comply with FEC guidance to get as much information as possible, but at the end of the day, some donors simply chose not to provide it," he said.

Scheel said more than 60 percent of those whom the interns identified were found to be retirees.